Sleeping
by fanfictioner124
Summary: Tony is having nightmares. It only takes Steve's presence to silence his demons.
1. Chapter 1

Tony writhed in his bed.

" _All your fault . . ._ "

He seized up.

" _You should have done more . . ._ "

He gasped for air.

" _Now they're all dead . . . because of you._ "

"Hey, Tony."

Tony awoke with a start.

"You okay?"

A soft voice reached his ears—he knew that voice. He looked over to see the outline of Captain America walking towards him in the dark. He sat on the edge of his bed. Tony gulped, trying to get his breathing under control. He ran a hand through his hair.

In the soft light, he could see the hunched, relaxed shoulders of Steve Rogers shift, then he was lying next to him in the bed. He could feel Steve settle into a comfortable position with his arms folded, fingers laced across his chest. Tony continued to stare at the ceiling.

When the nightmares had started, Steve had begun slipping into Tony's room at night, on the off chance that he was in his bed instead of the lab. He would sit there, quietly, waiting for the nightmare to die down, knowing that his presence was the only thing Tony needed. Tonight, Tony could hear from the silence in the room that Steve was asleep, breathing heavily and deeply and more calmly than anything Tony could remember. He let that calm wash over him, glancing at the Cap's sleeping frame. He looked peaceful. Tony swallowed, remembering that he was here, that the whole team was here, that they were safe, and that he could go back to sleep. He breathed deep. Then he settled a chaste distance away from Steve, allowing one arm to reach toward him, and fell back asleep.

The nightmares didn't bother him this time.


	2. Chapter 2

**This was originally only supposed to be a one-shot drabblish thing, but I decided to continue it. I might expand on it later and change the title/summary depending on how things go, meh. Enjoy :)**

* * *

The next day, Tony had woken to Steve tangled up in the sheets beside him.

Steve had never slept the night in his bed, and Tony was somewhat surprised to find that, despite his military training and obvious reserve, Steve seemed to sleep with reckless abandon. He was hogging most of the bed space and Tony was guilty of having at least two limbs tangled up in the sleeping captain. He slowly removed his arm from beneath Steve's head, who had been using his bicep as a pillow, and removed his right leg from underneath Steve's just as the disheveled blond awoke with sleepy eyes.

Having successfully extricated himself from him, Tony rose, with a slightly awkward air, as Steve sat up, rubbing his eyes.

"What happened?"

"You came in here last night," Tony said, slipping on a pair of loose sweatpants. Then quietly, "Thanks for that, by the way."

Steve looked his way, looking uncharacteristically ruffled, and fell back against the pillow. "No problem."

"Though I might ask, next time you decide to spend the night with me . . . do it a little less obviously?"

Steve smiled wryly from his position on the bed as Tony went to the door, which was hanging wide open, revealing the team sitting at various positions at the kitchen. Every one of them watched as Tony, looking as disheveled as always, and a much more unusually unkempt-looking Steve, emerged from the room at the same time. There were more than a few raised eyebrows.

"So?" Black Widow said from her position on the barstool. "Look who decided to spend the night?"

"It was nothing," Tony waived off. This didn't keep Natasha from shooting Banner a suggestive look, who was currently at the table eating cereal. Thor was texting and seemingly obvlivious.

Clint was currently playing video games at Tony's huge 70' screen TV by the couch. "It was bound to happen sooner or later. Who was the bottom?"

"It wasn't like that," Steve protested, too tired to really put any force into it.

"I had a nightmare," Tony admitted, blowing it off like it was nothing. But Natasha could see by his demeanor that he was serious, and dropped it respectfully. "Cap stopped by, helped out."

"Oh, I'm sure he did," Bruce joked. There was a harsh ' _shush!_ ' from Natasha, to which Bruce mouthed ' _what?_ ', then, realizing it was a serious topic, shut up.

"So, what's for breakfast, Jarvis?" Tony asked, walking hopefully into the kitchen.

"I thought I'd settle with a classic scrambled egg and toast for you today," the crisp, British-accented voice quipped. "I know it's your favorite when you've had a rough night."

Bruce couldn't keep from snorting, just a little, as Black Widow shot him a look. He turned it into a cough.

Captain America gave the Hulk a glance, daring him to make any more mention of it, but slipped on a wry smile as he settled with his coffee mug brought to him by one of Tony's mini-'Dummy's' especially installed for the kitchen. He sipped.

"And for you, Mr. Rogers?" A metallic 'Dummy' inquired its arm at him as the voice spoke.

"Nah, I think I'll hit the gym first," he replied. Everyone knew Steve liked to work out on an empty stomach. One of his odd idiosyncrasies carried over from before the war.

"Alright, but I have to advise you—"

"Nah, Steve's hardcore," Hawkeye said from his position on the floor. "He likes to work out first thing in the morning. He doesn't need big-boy juice."

"I think I'll join you," Bruce said mildly. Steve nodded as they both exited the main room to hit the gym, which was down on the 22nd floor. Tony was already halfway through his breakfast when he threw them nod.

"So, you're having nightmares again?" Black Widow asked, curling up like a cat. She had her head on one knee, facing Tony, who was sitting a few barstools away. He glanced up as he poured himself some juice.

"Just simple stuff. Nothing big, really."

Natasha tilted her head sympathetically. "I'm glad you've got Steve. What you guys have . . . it's nice."

Tony didn't respond verbally, but he threw her a smile before moving off towards the couch, which she returned. Tony jumped over the back seat and landed right above Hawkeye's head, grabbing a control in one hand and sipping on his slightly-spiked orange juice in the other.

"You were just trying to get him in bed with you, admit it," Clint said, jerking the remote the other way. "Crap!"

"You're losin' at your own game, Katniss," Tony said, entering the archery-themed Call of Duty game he'd had especially customized for him, and instantly became engrossed. Natasha just rolled her eyes in the background and got up from her chair.

"Thor!"

Thor had been texting all morning, and it was beginning to get on Natasha's nerves.

"It is amusing, these small, emoticonical faces," he said, grinning. "Jane and I have been sending them to each other all morning."

"Yeah, I can see that," Natasha said, plucking the phone from Thor's hand. "And it's emoticons, you moron. Come on, we've got work to do down with HS."

"Ah, yes, The Inquiry."

"Yes, 'The Inquiry'," she said, rolling her eyes. Almost everything the big lug said sounded so melodramatic. She wouldn't exactly call a status report epic.

As they moved towards the elevator, they could hear Tony and Clint in the background shouting at the TV.

"Aw, come on!"

"Isn't it embarrassing that I'm beating you right now?"

"Oh—jeez, Stark, NO FRIENDLY FIRE!"

"Hey, you were asking for it. We'd both be doing better without you at this point."

Natasha smiled and shook her head as her and Thor entered the elevator. Then they pressed the button and the doors closed.


End file.
